Journey to God

We come from God, we exist as the image of God, and we are returning to God.

Bonaventure uses the metaphor of journey to indicate that the human desire for God is dynamic… It is a desire which impels one to search for God, and this desire, planted as a seed of grace, is already in the human person.

The human person is not simply content with the totality of that which exists; rather, there is a longing for more, for something deeper, for God. The human person has an attraction for God.

…one cannot begin the journey to God unless one recognizes one’s poverty or radical dependence on God. Poverty is…an awareness of one’s utter dependency on God, a realization that all good things flow out of the goodness of God.

…the journey is not an intellectual exercise; it is not a “head trip” but a matter of the heart. The goal of the journey is happiness…..one cannot be happy unless the heart is centered on God.

…one of the greatest obstacles….is that the human heart is hardened by sin. The “hardened” self-centered heart must become a natural, loving heart, centered in God. Transformation of the heart, however, can only come about through a relationship with God…..prayer is the mother and source of the journey to God – because prayer is an openness and deepening of one’s life in God’s life.

…one cannot enter into oneself unless Christ be the mediator….the path to true knowledge is that Christ is the way, the truth and the life. Devotion to Christ is pivotal in the journey to God; how one relates to Christ will influence how one completes the journey. Devotion to Christ means a total turning to God, not simply with one’s mind but with one’s heart and soul as well….accepting Christ as person and developing a personal relationship with Christ ultimately opens us up to the mystery of God. (John 1:18)

Christ is the source of grace by which the soul is purified, illumined and perfected. As one enters more deeply into relationship with Christ, the divine image is reformed and restored in its likeness to God.

….the more God-like the soul becomes by grace, the more clearly it sees the truth of things….one’s inner life becomes more orderly and peaceful….when our feelings, thought and emotions are rightly ordered to God, then we start to line in a new, virtuous way that follows the example of Christ….the soul’s journey to God is thoroughly Christocentric since Christ is the beginning, middle an end of the journey….it cannot be made apart from the imitation of Christ.